STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Julia M. Purpura, 73, of Todt Hill, an accomplished swimmer and the founder of Staten Island Aquatics, who served as a volunteer swim coach for more than three decades, instilling confidence in her students while nurturing their athletic abilities, died yesterday in Staten Island University Hospital, Ocean Breeze.

Born and raised Julia Mae Bensle in Brooklyn, she earned her bachelor of science degree in health, physical education and recreation from Brooklyn College, where she was a synchronized swimmer.

She and her childhood sweetheart, Dr. Anthony Purpura, wed in 1960 and relocated to Jacksonville, N.C., in 1963. They moved to Staten Island in 1966.

Once on the Island, “Mrs. P,” as her students called her, began the first of many volunteer endeavors as a swim coach at the YMCA in West Brighton. In 1976, she established a swim team at Notre Dame Academy, Grymes Hill, teaching the sport to students there and later serving as a consultant to other high schools seeking to establish swim teams, among them Curtis High School.

In time, Mrs. Purpura would establish the Catholic Grammar School Swim League, organizing teams for diving, swimming and synchronized swimming.

As she accompanied students across the country to participate in national swim meets, she realized more pools were needed in the borough to accommodate the growing number of swimmers — this after transporting students almost daily to a pool in Jersey City for practice.

Donating time and money, and with the support and encouragement of her loving family, Mrs. Purpura would go on to create Aquaducks, the precursor to Staten Island Acquatics in West Brighton, in 1987, devoting her considerable energy to establishing and maintaining the pool. It ceased operation in 2006.

She also designed the programs for Staten Island swim league meets, as well as team T-shirts for Notre Dame, Curtis and Monsignor Farrell High School, and served as an officer of the National Synchronized Swimming Board.

During her interview with the Staten Island Advance when she was named a 1997 Woman of Achievement, Mrs. Purpura said that, coaching aside, her mentoring of the borough’s young people meant they had “another adult to talk to.”

“Maybe that little spark I see will inspire them to achieve their dreams,” she said.

Too often, Mrs. Purpura explained, it was the “average child” whose needs were not always considered and who deserved to have “programs in place” in their community adding, “They have needs, too.”

Said one of her volunteer instructors, Mary Mangus, at the time: “Her caring and compassion is almost spiritual in nature.”

“She’s always thinking of what’s best for the children,” added one of her students, Amy Vallebuona.

Said her husband yesterday: “She would find the good in every person she ever met. We have known and loved each other for 60 years.”

When she wasn’t swimming, or teaching swimming, Mrs. Purpura was a Girl Scout leader and enjoyed taking troop members camping. In recent years, she ran the American Girl fundraisers at Snug Harbor Cultural Center and was recognized for her efforts there. She was also a member of Soroptimist International of Staten Island.

Surviving, along with Anthony, her husband of 51 years, are her son, John; her daughter, Prin Furst, and two grandchildren.

The funeral will be tomorrow from the Harmon Home for Funerals, with a mass at 10:30 a.m. in Blessed Sacrament R.C. Church, both West Brighton. Burial will follow in Moravian Cemetery, New Dorp.